Award Data

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere are primary drivers of global climate change and hence there is a crucial need to quantify their sources and sinks. A general technique to constrain source and sink strengths is the analysis of the relative proportions of isotopic variants of GHG's. These measurements must be performed with extremely high precision. The gold standard technique, i ...

There are currently no inexpensive observing systems that detect temperature, salinity and currents under the ocean's surface - all important factors in predicting the intensity of hurricanes. Boston Engineering proposes to develop the Multi-Purpose Above Surface/Below Surface Expendable Dropsondes (MASED). Our design builds on the highly successful air dropsondes already in use, combined with a ...

To capture critical weather and SST data in the Tropical Cyclone Boundary Layer (TCBL), Piasecki Aircraft proposes to evaluate existing meteorological sensor packages, integrate new off-the-shelf MEMS sensors, and design an air-launched UAS to improve the resolution of observations captured in the TCBL. Capturing latent and sensible heat fluxes can be achieved reliably with a powered UAS (compare ...

The mechanics of single photons can be used to entangle information carry quantum states, allowing for quantum computation or random number generation. Quantum communication utilizes the quantum nature of single-photons to retain information, particularly in the form of quantum key distribution protocols. High-efficiency, low-noise single photon detection at high efficiency is critical for the app ...

During the Phase I program, Aurora conducted a comprehensive survey of potential platforms that included government owned and furnished UAVs and manned aircraft as well as Aurora’s Centaur Optionally Piloted Aircraft (OPA). The survey concluded, in part, that UAVs offer a significant improvement in data collection capability when compared to manned aircraft that are currently fielded by NOAA. ...

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Not Available In our Phase 1 work we were able to replicate and build on recent results at NIST with superconducting transition (SCT) thermometers, which suggested that dramatic improvements may be achieved in detectivity and range of application, of cryogenic electrical substitution radiometers. Cryo-ESR's are widely used as the most accurate absolute standards of radiative flux and irradiance. I ...

Not Available The objective of this research project is the development of an Autonomous Microbial Sampler (AMS) that will obtain uncontaminated and exogenous DNA-free microbial samples from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and other aquatic ecosystems. Sampling with the AMS may be conducted using manned submersibles, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) or during hydr ...